Sotheby's Now Has a Beautiful Italian Coffee Bar

The recently debuted Sant Ambroeus Coffee Bar at Sotheby's, housed on the top floor of the auction house's world headquarters in New York, is among the most beautiful places to fuel up on caffeine we've seen in quite some time.

The coffee bar, which is open to the public, features an outdoor terrace with views of Manhattan from its Upper East Side location. Sant Ambroeus, which has other locations around the city and in Southampton, originally opened its doors in Milan in 1936. It soon became a destination for fashionable Italians, and today, the West Village, Upper East Side, SoHo, and Southampton locations attract a crowd that is molto elegante.

Conceived by New York-based designer Robert McKinley, the café's décor is a nod to Italian coffee bars in the 1950s, with its walls and columns covered in mahogany paneling. The floors are inspired by geometric patterns of Giò Ponti, in deep chocolate brown, cream and pale pink marble, and custom Murano glass pendants adorn the bar. Stop in for a cappuccino and you may never want to leave.